Europa League: Slavia Prague Defender Attacked and Beaten in the Tunnel

Ondrej Kudela, Slavia Prague defender was reportedly ‘attacked and left bloodied in the tunnel’ following an allegation of racial abuse made towards him by Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara during their Europa League clash on Thursday, March 18.

Footage from the 87th minute shows Kudela covering his mouth before saying something to Kamara, who immediately reacted with fury while pointing towards his opponent.

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard said he was “angry and upset” after Kamara told him, he was racially abused towards the end of Slavia Prague’s 2-0 win at Ibrox which knocked Rangers out of the Europa League 3-1 on aggregate. Kemar Roofe and Leon Balogun had been sent off to reduce Rangers to nine men.

“My player tells me he was racially abused,” Gerrard was quoted saying by BBC Sport.

“And the disappointing thing is that their people are trying to defend their player and calling us liars.

“I feel angry. I know Glen and trust him 100%. The Slavia player has caused this and something needs to happen quickly but that is above me. But whatever happens, I stand next to Glen.

“I don’t even feel like talking about football just now. It’s over to UEFA now and I just hope it doesn’t get pushed under the carpet.”

Gerrard asked Kamara at the side of the pitch whether he wanted to continue or walk off following the alleged racist incident.

“He said to me after the game he wasn’t thinking straight,” the Rangers boss explained following his team’s Europa League exit. “He wanted to carry on, he was obviously very upset.”

It has now been revealed that Kudela was ‘attacked by fists and beaten in the tunnel’ after the match, as angry scenes erupted following the full-time whistle. 

Czech outlet Seznam Zprávy adds that the police were called and under their escort, the players left for the hotel. However, the report details that Slavia have also reported the incident to the Czech embassy, with Czech ambassador to the UK Libor Secka looking into the details.

In a tweet, Slavia president Jaroslav Tvrdik denied the allegation of racist abuse and claimed that the Czech champions called in Police Scotland after Kudela was ‘physically attacked.’

He categorically denies the fact that the player Ondrej Kudela racially insulted the players’ opponents in any way.

‘Our player was physically attacked after the match. At the request of Slavia, the case was resolved by the local police. We would like to see a detailed investigation of the whole situation by UEFA.’